Kodak said that the federal court in the District of Delaware granted summary judgment on its behalf in a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Ampex, ruling that Kodak’s digital cameras do not infringe an Ampex patent. Ampex may appeal the ruling to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, and the company said yesterday it is currently reviewing the judge's decision and considering an appeal.

“Kodak is a long-standing innovator in the digital camera industry and we have devoted significant resources to the research and development of our digital capture technologies,” said Kodak Vice President Laura G. Quatela, managing director, Intellectual Property Transactions, in a statement.

Redwood City, Calif.-based Ampex, which develops and licenses digital visual technologies, said the patent in question expired on April 11 and it didn't expect the court decision to affect its future licensing revenues.

The legal battle began in October 2004 when Ampex filed concurrent actions before the International Trade Commission (ITC) and in the District of Delaware, asserting patent infringement. After 10 months of litigation in the ITC, and after the submission of initial trial testimony, Ampex dropped its ITC complaint.

The focus of the litigation then turned to the Delaware suit. In May 2006 Kodak filed a motion asking the court for a ruling that it had not infringed Ampex’s patent. The District Court granted the motion yesterday.

A camera that converts a collected image into pixels that are black or white digital or shades of gray. The digital data may then be manipulated to enhance or otherwise modify the resulting viewed image.

The technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The science includes light emission, transmission, deflection, amplification and detection by optical components and instruments, lasers and other light sources, fiber optics, electro-optical instrumentation, related hardware and electronics, and sophisticated systems. The range of applications of photonics extends from energy generation to detection to communications and...